A digest of events, trends, issues, ideas and journalism from and about rural America, by the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, based at the University of Kentucky.
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Thursday, August 27, 2015

Clinton vows help for farms, rural businesses and health, and treating Internet access like electricity

Seeking rural votes in Iowa on Wednesday, Hillary Clinton "proposed banking and tax changes Wednesday that she said would
encourage investment in agriculture and rural businesses, along with
expanded federal assistance for farmers and ranchers," reports Anne Gearan of The Washington Post.

"Clinton presented a network of initiatives that would build on existing
support programs for agriculture, rural development and education," Gearan writes. "Some
elements of Clinton’s rural program, such as her proposals to make
public college education more affordable, have been released previously. The Democratic front-runner’s rural aid package contains an endorsement for ethanol, the corn-based fuel additive." Iowa leads the nation in ethanol production; Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a former Iowa governor, endorsed her earlier this week.

Clinton called for "doubling federal loan guarantees for bio processing plants and
technologies, long a boon to rural Iowa’s farming industry," Sam Frizell of Timereports. "She would also double federal funding for a program that educates
beginning farmers, and build on Clinton’s 'Farm-to-Fork' initiative as
New York senator by doubling funding for farmers markets and direct food
sales."

On health, "The plan also calls for improving healthcare in rural areas by expanding
telehealth and remote patient monitoring. It also called for better
prevention and treatment of substance abuse, noting that drug-associated
deaths have grown fastest in rural areas, Frizell writes.

Clinton also "wants to increase access to fresh food as part of a rural agenda," Catherine Lucey of The Associated Pressreports. "Clinton also spoke about the importance of expanding rural broadband
Internet." She said, "We have to do for Internet access what we did
years ago for electricity." For a rundown of the plan and Clinton's remarks, click here.

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This blog generally follows traditional journalistic standards. It's not about opinions, though you may read one here occasionally. It's about facts that we think will be useful to rural journalists, non-rural journalists who do rural stories, and others interested in rural issues. We don't try to be provocative, so we don't generate as many comments as most blogs with the level of traffic we have, but we certainly invite comments -- and contributions, to al.cross@uky.edu. Feel free to republish blog items, with credit to us and the original source.